January 26: The Haryana Renewable Energy Department has launched a scheme to audit energy consumption in the Government buildings of the State with a view to minimize the energy cost and to plug the gap between energy supply and consumption. Haryana is one of the few States in the country to launch this type of a scheme.
While giving this information the Director of Renewable Energy Department and HAREDA Ms. Sumita Misra said that the department had prepared an Energy Conservation Action Plan. One of the activities to be taken up under this action plan was conducting an energy audit of Government buildings.
She said that Energy audit was a tool to a systematic approach for decision making in the area of energy management with implementation of recommendation to bring energy efficiency in these buildings. In view of this, the Energy audit of Haryana Raj Bhawan was also got conducted by HAREDA through NITCON Chandigarh and the report recommended that there was a potential saving of 1.20 lakh units annually on adoption of energy efficient measures with the immediate investment of Rs. 16.16 lakh. It was also suggested in the report that inefficient air conditioning units may be replaced with efficient air conditioners, the conventional tubes and bulbs would be replaced with energy efficient CFL and T-5 tube lights and High Pressure Sodium Vapour lamps with Metal Halide Lamps. Similarly, LED solar streetlights and solar water heating systems were also proposed in the energy audit to meet the outdoor lighting and hot water requirement of Raj Bhawan.
Ms. Sumita said that the recommendations of Energy Audit had been implemented in Haryana Raj Bhawan by HAREDA and all energy inefficient devices had been got replaced with CFLs, T-5, 28 watt tube lights fittings, T-5, 2x28 watt recess and surface type mirror optics tube lights fittings, 80 watt induction lights and 150 watt metal halide lamps, 1500LPD Solar Water Heating System, 1.5 Ton 4 star rated split AC, 1.5 Ton 4 star rated window AC, 11 watt CFL concealed lights and LED Solar Street lights.
She said that this was the first building in Haryana Where Energy audit recommendation had been implemented comprehensively. She said that this replacement would result in annual saving of 1.20 lakh units of electricity amounting to Rs. 4.80 lakh in the electricity bills of Haryana Raj Bhawan and the entire investment would be recovered with in a period of three and a half years through saving on electricity bill.
She said that Energy Conservation Act-2001 had come into force with effect from March 1, 2007. The State Government had designated the Department of Renewable Energy as the State Nodal Agency for the implementation of Energy Conservation activities in the State and to comply with the provisions of Energy Conservation Act.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Haryana Pollution Control Board to turn industry friendly
January 19—The Haryana Pollution Control Board (HPCB) is going hi-tech and turning industry-friendly. It has decided to go in for a web-enabled application submission software for the convenience of entrepreneurs. Once installed, it will not only enable entrepreneurs to check online the status of the No Objection Certificate (NOC) but also of the consent applications submitted to the board, sparing them the time and effort now made in making it the board office.
Besides, the board is also in the process of evolving software for e-filling of applications for consent and NOC. Making things easy for entrepreneurs, the board has prepared a policy notification simplifying NOC and consent procedure. Under the policy, the time to grant NOC and consent has been increased. Disclosing this today, Haryana Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mrs Kiran Choudhry, said that besides providing convenience to the entrepreneurs, the new software would enable the board to check the daily status of consent and NOC applications and also answer the applicants online. She directed all Regional Officers (ROs) to direct industrial units to e-file for consent to establish and consent to operate by January 26, 2009. After e-filling consent to establish, each unit will get a unique ID number and password to check the status of its case from time to time.
Adoption of the e-filing procedure would lend more transparency to the procedure which would be considerably paced up. Final decision on each case would be put on the website of the board and the entrepreneurs would be able to download it. Time period had been specified in the policy notification to clear consent to establish cases, she added. Detailing the consequent management process, Mrs Choudhry said that an applicant would file application form along with relevant fee and document as the first step. These documents would be verified by the Regional Officer, and, if found eligible, samples would be collected by the field officer under the RO and sent to the laboratory. The laboratory would prepare and send the analysis report back to the RO who would recommend the application to Head Office (HO) in case the investment involved is more than Rs 50 crore. In the last lap, the head office would send the final decision to the industrial unit and RO concerned, she added.
Mrs Choudhry said that the main objective of implementing this process was to smoothen the flow of data without any hurdles, and after adequate validation checks, its entry and security. She said this process would not only provide the facility of updating data from time to time but also facilitate prompt and specific retrieval of data. It would bring about flexibility in the system and check redundancy in storing the same data multiple times. The process would help achieve accuracy and maintain timeliness and comprehensiveness of the system. She said that the summarized data would be transferred electronically to the HO and would be used for reports generation. There would be no duplicity of data entry and it would be consistent and accurate.
The proposed system would generate all required MIS reports at Regional Office and HO level by all authorized persons. With this process, the present status of an application could be updated directly from the server, which is maintained at the HO. Also, the proposed system could be effectively utilized for monitoring compliance of various show-cause notices. It would also alert the user as soon as the show-cause notice expired, she added.
Besides, the board is also in the process of evolving software for e-filling of applications for consent and NOC. Making things easy for entrepreneurs, the board has prepared a policy notification simplifying NOC and consent procedure. Under the policy, the time to grant NOC and consent has been increased. Disclosing this today, Haryana Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mrs Kiran Choudhry, said that besides providing convenience to the entrepreneurs, the new software would enable the board to check the daily status of consent and NOC applications and also answer the applicants online. She directed all Regional Officers (ROs) to direct industrial units to e-file for consent to establish and consent to operate by January 26, 2009. After e-filling consent to establish, each unit will get a unique ID number and password to check the status of its case from time to time.
Adoption of the e-filing procedure would lend more transparency to the procedure which would be considerably paced up. Final decision on each case would be put on the website of the board and the entrepreneurs would be able to download it. Time period had been specified in the policy notification to clear consent to establish cases, she added. Detailing the consequent management process, Mrs Choudhry said that an applicant would file application form along with relevant fee and document as the first step. These documents would be verified by the Regional Officer, and, if found eligible, samples would be collected by the field officer under the RO and sent to the laboratory. The laboratory would prepare and send the analysis report back to the RO who would recommend the application to Head Office (HO) in case the investment involved is more than Rs 50 crore. In the last lap, the head office would send the final decision to the industrial unit and RO concerned, she added.
Mrs Choudhry said that the main objective of implementing this process was to smoothen the flow of data without any hurdles, and after adequate validation checks, its entry and security. She said this process would not only provide the facility of updating data from time to time but also facilitate prompt and specific retrieval of data. It would bring about flexibility in the system and check redundancy in storing the same data multiple times. The process would help achieve accuracy and maintain timeliness and comprehensiveness of the system. She said that the summarized data would be transferred electronically to the HO and would be used for reports generation. There would be no duplicity of data entry and it would be consistent and accurate.
The proposed system would generate all required MIS reports at Regional Office and HO level by all authorized persons. With this process, the present status of an application could be updated directly from the server, which is maintained at the HO. Also, the proposed system could be effectively utilized for monitoring compliance of various show-cause notices. It would also alert the user as soon as the show-cause notice expired, she added.
Conservation of Ground water
January 19: The Haryana Government is contemplating to introduce an Act on the conservation of ground water with a view to check the depleting level of underground water in the State. This Act would help in improving the level of ground water.
While giving this information today a spokesman of the Agriculture department said that as per the Act the farmers would not be able to sow paddy before the notified date of May 10 every year which would ultimately result in controlling the depletion of underground water. The department had also implemented a Ground Water Recharge Scheme to conserve water and for artificial recharge of ground water. So far 290 such structures had been constructed under the scheme.
He said that the department had also launched an awareness campaign to educate the farmers to prevent the sowing of Sathi Crop which was more water consuming and one of the prime reasons of depleting ground water. Under this campaign the famers were motivated to use sprinkle and drip irrigation and also irrigation through Underground Pipe Line system. The department had also made a provision to give subsidy to the farmers using these techniques which were helpful for saving water.
The spokesman said that now it had been made mandatory to construct water conservation structure on the roof tops of government buildings. The same had also been compulsory for the houses having an area of 100 sq.mtr. or more in the HUDA sectors or falling under the jurisdiction of Municipalities. Similarly, the replacement of old flush tanks having capacity of 10 to 15 liters with new flush tanks of 8 liters capacity had also been made compulsory in the Government Buildings.
He said that after June 1974, in 15 districts comprising of Ambala, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurgaon, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Mahendergarh, Mewat, Panipat, Panchkula, Rewari, Sonipat and Yamunanagar the ground water level had recorded a downfall of -5.75 mtr. on an average of -0.17 miter per year. Bhiwani had recorded a lowest downfall of -0.74mtr. as compared to highest downfall of -24.97mtr. in Mahendergarh district.
While giving this information today a spokesman of the Agriculture department said that as per the Act the farmers would not be able to sow paddy before the notified date of May 10 every year which would ultimately result in controlling the depletion of underground water. The department had also implemented a Ground Water Recharge Scheme to conserve water and for artificial recharge of ground water. So far 290 such structures had been constructed under the scheme.
He said that the department had also launched an awareness campaign to educate the farmers to prevent the sowing of Sathi Crop which was more water consuming and one of the prime reasons of depleting ground water. Under this campaign the famers were motivated to use sprinkle and drip irrigation and also irrigation through Underground Pipe Line system. The department had also made a provision to give subsidy to the farmers using these techniques which were helpful for saving water.
The spokesman said that now it had been made mandatory to construct water conservation structure on the roof tops of government buildings. The same had also been compulsory for the houses having an area of 100 sq.mtr. or more in the HUDA sectors or falling under the jurisdiction of Municipalities. Similarly, the replacement of old flush tanks having capacity of 10 to 15 liters with new flush tanks of 8 liters capacity had also been made compulsory in the Government Buildings.
He said that after June 1974, in 15 districts comprising of Ambala, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurgaon, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Mahendergarh, Mewat, Panipat, Panchkula, Rewari, Sonipat and Yamunanagar the ground water level had recorded a downfall of -5.75 mtr. on an average of -0.17 miter per year. Bhiwani had recorded a lowest downfall of -0.74mtr. as compared to highest downfall of -24.97mtr. in Mahendergarh district.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Environment Ministers press release
Chandigarh, January 14 - Haryana Minister of State for Forests and Environment, Mrs Kiran Choudhry directed the Haryana Forests Department to carry out satellite survey of forests in order to evaluate the success of the plantation done in the State. She also said that the land in the State should be divided into three zones based on the agro climatic conditions like arid zone, water zone and mixed zone to make required provisions as per the climatic conditions to effectively implement plantation work and to increase the forests cover in the State.
This was disclosed by the Mrs Choudhry while taking up the review meeting of the Haryana Forests Department at Red Bishop, Panchkula near here today.
She directed the two Chief Conservators of Forests incharge of four circles to tour their areas to keep a check on plantation activities and illegal mining and give a thorough report to the Department regularly. She said that today we are living in the economy driven time and we should market the products which were grown in herbal parks. She said that it was important that District Forests Officers (DFO's) take up economic generating activities in their respective districts. She said that medicinal plants should be grown in these herbal parks and extensive marketing should be done. She said that there was a need to restructure the Medicinal Plants Board and identify the varieties which were patented by the Board. She said that processing units of medicinal plants like aloe vera should be established by the Haryana Forestry Development Corporation.
She directed the all the DFO's to involve women in the Forestry projects and increase the number of nurseries run by women. She said that participation of women should ensured through Self Help Groups and by giving nursery work to women exclusively and augment their income.
She said that services and training of those officers should be utilized who get specialized training on Government expenditure. She said that the Department should start schemes which augment rural livelihood and take up social activities in their respective districts.
She urged the officials to utilize the funds provided under NAREGA and also a written intimation would be sent to all the District Commissioners for providing the funds directly to the concerned DFO's so that they could plant trees, raise nursuries for free distribution of saplings under Farm Forestry.
She asked the Haryana Forests Department to make an appropriate demand of budget from the Government for the coming financial year, keeping in mind that two of the foreign aided projects would be exhausted this year and there would be scarcity of funds to carry out the plantation work successfully in the State. She said that it was very important to preserve the Forests and Environment and no dereliction would be tolerated in this regard.
She asked the officers to take up the Eco tourism activities in their respective areas as it would bring the State on the global map and increase the tourists flow in the State. She said that first phase of Eco Tourism Project started at the Fort at Thapali in Morni had been completed and the second phase proposal had been sent to Government of India and soon the fort would be open for the tourists and visitors.
She said that in order to check the illegal mining in the State, a Committee should be constituted and strict actions should be taken by the officials in this regard. She said that coordination should be maintained with different departments to curb this menace of illegal mining and any laxity on the part of the officials would not be tolerated.
She said that artists workshops should be organised to create awareness amongst the masses and it was very important that various activities should be held at regular intervals to aware the people about the advantages of trees and environment.
This was disclosed by the Mrs Choudhry while taking up the review meeting of the Haryana Forests Department at Red Bishop, Panchkula near here today.
She directed the two Chief Conservators of Forests incharge of four circles to tour their areas to keep a check on plantation activities and illegal mining and give a thorough report to the Department regularly. She said that today we are living in the economy driven time and we should market the products which were grown in herbal parks. She said that it was important that District Forests Officers (DFO's) take up economic generating activities in their respective districts. She said that medicinal plants should be grown in these herbal parks and extensive marketing should be done. She said that there was a need to restructure the Medicinal Plants Board and identify the varieties which were patented by the Board. She said that processing units of medicinal plants like aloe vera should be established by the Haryana Forestry Development Corporation.
She directed the all the DFO's to involve women in the Forestry projects and increase the number of nurseries run by women. She said that participation of women should ensured through Self Help Groups and by giving nursery work to women exclusively and augment their income.
She said that services and training of those officers should be utilized who get specialized training on Government expenditure. She said that the Department should start schemes which augment rural livelihood and take up social activities in their respective districts.
She urged the officials to utilize the funds provided under NAREGA and also a written intimation would be sent to all the District Commissioners for providing the funds directly to the concerned DFO's so that they could plant trees, raise nursuries for free distribution of saplings under Farm Forestry.
She asked the Haryana Forests Department to make an appropriate demand of budget from the Government for the coming financial year, keeping in mind that two of the foreign aided projects would be exhausted this year and there would be scarcity of funds to carry out the plantation work successfully in the State. She said that it was very important to preserve the Forests and Environment and no dereliction would be tolerated in this regard.
She asked the officers to take up the Eco tourism activities in their respective areas as it would bring the State on the global map and increase the tourists flow in the State. She said that first phase of Eco Tourism Project started at the Fort at Thapali in Morni had been completed and the second phase proposal had been sent to Government of India and soon the fort would be open for the tourists and visitors.
She said that in order to check the illegal mining in the State, a Committee should be constituted and strict actions should be taken by the officials in this regard. She said that coordination should be maintained with different departments to curb this menace of illegal mining and any laxity on the part of the officials would not be tolerated.
She said that artists workshops should be organised to create awareness amongst the masses and it was very important that various activities should be held at regular intervals to aware the people about the advantages of trees and environment.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
simplification of policy for NOC
Dec. 30 - The Haryana State Pollution Control Board toay announced a policy for the simplification of procedure for granting consent for establish (NOC)/consent to operate projects/industry.
While disclosing this here today, the Chief Minister, Mr.Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that policy provides deem clearance i.e. grant of NOC to the projects covered under environment impact assessment notification dated September 14, 2006 once the environment clearance was granted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests or by the State Authority by depositing performance guarantee and an undertaking for adherence to the standards laid down by the Board.
He said that this would greatly benefit the industry in getting time bound/deemed clearance from the Pollution Control Board and also consent to operate for a longer period which will save their valuable time by removing hassles of paper processing and unnecessary to the office of the Board.
He said that this policy will also reduce the paper work at the head quarters as well as in the field offices of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board by enhancing the tenure of consent for a period of 2 to 10 years and delegationof powers at the district level for projects having capital investment upto Rs.50 crore. This will also help in ensuring regular monitoring of polluting industries by making frequent inspections and more vigil on the defaulting units in order to clean rivers/canals/drains and maintaining wholesomeness of water and air in the State, he added.
Giving details of the policy, the Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mrs.Kiran Choudhry said that under the policy, all projects/industrial units covered under environment impact assessment notification, 2006 would be given deemed consent to establish (NOC) within 10 days once the environment clearance was granted under EIA notification, provided the project proponent submitted a bank guarantee of 0.5 per cent of the project cost alongwith an undertaking by the applicant indicating his awareness of the prescribed standards and his commitment to comply with the same.
She said that the performance bond would be refunded/retired at one-fifth of the value after every year of successful adherence to prescribed standards subsequent to the date of coming into production/operation of the project. The NOC/consent to establish would be provided within 10 days of the submission of the above documents alongwith the letter granting environmental clearance by the competent authority under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification for category A projects and the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for projects in category B at the headquarters level after approval of the Chairman of the Board, she added.
Mrs.Kiran Choudhry said that the Board had identified 18 categories of polluting industries which are not covered by EIA notification and their consent to establish/consent to operate would be granted at the district level by the district level clerance committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner for all project upto investment cost of Rs.50 crore. The powers of grant of consent to operate had been delegated to a district level committee headed by Deputy Commissioner or the ADC to be specifically authorised by the Deputy Commissioner and consisting of the District Town Planner, the General Manager, District Industries Centre (GM, DIC), the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Executive Engineer of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Executive Engineer of the Power Distribution Utility, Deputy GM, HSIIDC, XEN Drainage, EO, HUDA and the Regional Officer as the Member Secretary for projects upto a capital investment of Rs.50 crore only.
She said that all the cases of consent to operate would be decided within 15 days in a time bound manner. Earlier these powers were delegated to the District Level Committee upto the project cost of Rs.five crore. The period of grant of consent had also been increased from two years to three years in case of project covered under EIA notification and 2 to 10 years in case of projects not covered under EIA notification. The consent to operate for case-II category would be granted for a minimum period of five years and maximum period of ten years against the existing procedure of granting yearly consent.
She said that the Board was considering an IT policy which would ensure e-filing of NOC/consent applications which will greatly benefit the industry and also help them in saving their valuable time and at the same time drastically reduce paper work of the Board.
While disclosing this here today, the Chief Minister, Mr.Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that policy provides deem clearance i.e. grant of NOC to the projects covered under environment impact assessment notification dated September 14, 2006 once the environment clearance was granted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests or by the State Authority by depositing performance guarantee and an undertaking for adherence to the standards laid down by the Board.
He said that this would greatly benefit the industry in getting time bound/deemed clearance from the Pollution Control Board and also consent to operate for a longer period which will save their valuable time by removing hassles of paper processing and unnecessary to the office of the Board.
He said that this policy will also reduce the paper work at the head quarters as well as in the field offices of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board by enhancing the tenure of consent for a period of 2 to 10 years and delegationof powers at the district level for projects having capital investment upto Rs.50 crore. This will also help in ensuring regular monitoring of polluting industries by making frequent inspections and more vigil on the defaulting units in order to clean rivers/canals/drains and maintaining wholesomeness of water and air in the State, he added.
Giving details of the policy, the Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mrs.Kiran Choudhry said that under the policy, all projects/industrial units covered under environment impact assessment notification, 2006 would be given deemed consent to establish (NOC) within 10 days once the environment clearance was granted under EIA notification, provided the project proponent submitted a bank guarantee of 0.5 per cent of the project cost alongwith an undertaking by the applicant indicating his awareness of the prescribed standards and his commitment to comply with the same.
She said that the performance bond would be refunded/retired at one-fifth of the value after every year of successful adherence to prescribed standards subsequent to the date of coming into production/operation of the project. The NOC/consent to establish would be provided within 10 days of the submission of the above documents alongwith the letter granting environmental clearance by the competent authority under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification for category A projects and the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for projects in category B at the headquarters level after approval of the Chairman of the Board, she added.
Mrs.Kiran Choudhry said that the Board had identified 18 categories of polluting industries which are not covered by EIA notification and their consent to establish/consent to operate would be granted at the district level by the district level clerance committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner for all project upto investment cost of Rs.50 crore. The powers of grant of consent to operate had been delegated to a district level committee headed by Deputy Commissioner or the ADC to be specifically authorised by the Deputy Commissioner and consisting of the District Town Planner, the General Manager, District Industries Centre (GM, DIC), the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Executive Engineer of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Executive Engineer of the Power Distribution Utility, Deputy GM, HSIIDC, XEN Drainage, EO, HUDA and the Regional Officer as the Member Secretary for projects upto a capital investment of Rs.50 crore only.
She said that all the cases of consent to operate would be decided within 15 days in a time bound manner. Earlier these powers were delegated to the District Level Committee upto the project cost of Rs.five crore. The period of grant of consent had also been increased from two years to three years in case of project covered under EIA notification and 2 to 10 years in case of projects not covered under EIA notification. The consent to operate for case-II category would be granted for a minimum period of five years and maximum period of ten years against the existing procedure of granting yearly consent.
She said that the Board was considering an IT policy which would ensure e-filing of NOC/consent applications which will greatly benefit the industry and also help them in saving their valuable time and at the same time drastically reduce paper work of the Board.
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